Handing out a detention…

We have all been there. You are sent to the principals office, or a report card comes in the mail. You come home with a detention slip that needs to be signed, or hell, make that one phone call from jail.

And while your mother runs around in a fit, yelling and screaming about why, and how, and for God’s sakes – with whom, you committed this crime with, your father sits quietly at the kitchen table with a poker face only previously seen on ESPN.

He waits. Patiently and calmly, chewing on the words that he is about to use towards you as weapons. And his calm demeanor and thoughtful debate are what scare you the most. You know the dreaded words that are coming.

“I’m disappointed in you.”

These words will cause so much more pain than anything the police, the principal, or your AP Biology teacher could ever have thrown at you. Because at the root of it all is the fact that he loves you. And his quiet disappointment will trump whatever threats, rage, or retaliation that any other force can throw.

That is how I feel about horse racing.

I love the thoroughbred horse. I love every single aspect of its life. The minuscule differences between stallions, and the selection of matings. The science behind breeding the mare, and watching embryogenesis take place. The trials and tribulations of delivering the foals into the world. The nutrition and exercise physiology behind sales prep and breaking. And finally, I love watching the power, endurance, and heart of these horses as they gallop around a well engineered track.

So much goes into this. So much time. So much thought. So much research. So much love.

I showed up in 2008 as an outsider. Traveling to the bluegrass by way of Pennsylvania, Wyoming, and then college in New York, I had never even stepped foot onto a racetrack until moving to Lexington, Kentucky to follow a boy. And yet within only one year with backstage access, I was hooked.

The boy was dumped. And I was immersed.

And for the past decade I have watched as my passion for this sport ebbs and flows, finding both extreme excitement in the highest of peaks, like in the journey of American Pharoah, followed by the greatest frustration in, well, so many other things.

And I have written about this journey on this blog, A Yankee in Paris.

Someone once called my blog “Thoroughbred-centric” and I loved that description. I want to be a middle man; a bridge. I want to let the horse enthusiast get a birdseye view of the backstage pass that I was given so many years ago. Let them witness the amount of time, dedication, commitment, and most importantly love, that goes into producing these racehorses.

I also want to let the racing industry see the ability, heart, and reward that goes into retiring these horses sound and allowing them to transition into second careers successfully. Let them see the pride and joy that goes into their horses first jump, first trail ride, and first show. The bond that is built between their horse and its new person.

And I want to let the complete outsider, such as 99% of my high school graduating class – and my entire family – see just how amazing these animals are overall.

And that is when I get frustrated.

Just yesterday, I posted on my blog’s Facebook page that the main character in one of my previous stories was entered in his first race. Buddy had a tumultuous start into this world, as his mother prolapsed and bled out immediately after delivering him. And I had used her story to explain to those horse enthusiasts exactly why and when we as industry members choose to use nurse mares.

Buddy

Since starting this blog, I have learned that those same horse enthusiasts who share the stories of these foals can be brought into the folds. Because they will choose to follow racing for exactly this reason: an affinity to that specific horse. And I have tried to use this fact to bring them into this world that we all love.

I knew they loved Buddy. I also knew that they would love to hear that he was now named Walk Tiz Way, and that he would be breaking from the gates for the first time on this day. So I posted of this, hoping to lure them in.

But then I was bombarded by questions. When was the race? Where could they watch it? What were his chances? Who owned him? Was he safe?

And I tried to respond. I pulled out my trusty apps and snazzy websites, only to realize just how little I could provide. Horse Races Now said that the post time was 4:10, but Equibase said 3:10. Neither provided which time zone they were providing the times for, and neither offered any other information – such as which channel would be providing the race.

I clicked on TVG, and saw that they did in fact have the 5th race at The Fairgrounds on their countdown, and hurried to tell those who were intrigued. And then we watched the post time draw nearer while messaging each other on social media with anticipation. 10 minutes. Then 6. 2. And finally post time.

And then TVG switched. To the 6th at Aqueduct.

My readers typed in rapid rage, wondering where Buddy was, and why we couldn’t see the race. And I rushed to text his exercise rider, asking for updates that I could at least provide to them.

Buddy on his way to the paddock. A picture I only got by chance that I know his rider…

Buddy didn’t run well, but maybe more importantly, we left a handful of people with a bitter taste in their mouth. Women and men who could have possibly learned to love the sport were left feeling as though it was just as impossible as they had thought to get involved in the game.

And I didn’t have any response that would convince them of otherwise.

I turned to my social media to voice these frustrations, only to realize two things: 1) this was a common occurrence, even for industry insiders, and 2) there were solutions to these problems, but you better hope to be an industry insider to have access to them.

I learned that I should have opened an Xpressbet account to stream the race on my cellphone. But really? I was sitting on my couch in front of a 45″ television, and I was to assume that I had to watch it on my 12″ laptop or 4″ cellphone. And in addition to this – I was to tell all of these people that they too would need to download an app when they already had the television in front of them – a television that had not one, but two, channels just for horse racing.

I learned that Horse Races Now provided post times in EST, while Equibase provided post times in the time zone where the racetrack is located, which again, would only be found by a google search. And I was supposed to reason this to the readers as well, further complicating their desire to learn, as most didn’t even know where The Fairgrounds was located.

I learned that TVG commonly had a race on their countdown only to switch to another race, and that most people chose to go the route of streaming – either via Horse Races Now or Xpressbet – which is great…if you have access to high speed internet, and don’t mind the lag time that either may provide.

And what bothered me the most was the fact that I felt falsely advertised to. Had TVG never had the race on its list, I would have had 15 minutes to find another route to watch – most likely through one of these other avenues. But instead, I thought that my race was set to watch…until it was too late for another avenue to be pursued.

And sadly, I also learned that many industry insiders were quick to make an excuse for a problem in the industry, instead of admitting the problem existed.

And that is where the parent in me comes out.

I love racing. But just because I love something doesn’t mean that it can’t make mistakes, and that it can’t do better.

And I acknowledge that we have already changed so much, and these changes are exactly what have kept me involved.

Our aftercare for these horses is immense, and growing every day. Mass Spectrometry is finally being utilized; providing for quantitative drug testing. The economy is growing, causing the sales to be profitable. And the industry is finally opening their doors to any person who wants to walk through them through Horse Country.

But that isn’t enough. We can’t rest on our laurels. And we need to change so much more.

We need a sport that is easily to follow, easy to attract, and easy to hold on to. We need an industry that not only lures people into its stone walls and iron gates, but with a clicker to actually open them. And then once they are in, we need to hold onto them with all of our strength.

Some of these changes are simple, some are not. But if we want this industry to actually obtain the fan following that we desire, they need to happen. I want my mom to be able to have access to every foal that I have ever pulled into this world, without getting frustrated by simple things such as a time zone. I want the readers of this blog to be able to watch the horses that they have learned to love through these stories with ease, such as Bode, Hit Girl, and now Buddy, without becoming unenamored because of an ability to watch.

And I want this sport to be the sport that can handle a loving member of its family tell them that they’re disappointed, and instead of asking for an emancipation from that angered guardian, admit fault. Go to detention. Learn from its mistakes, and move on.

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5 Comments on “Handing out a detention…”

I have been there, looking for that elusive race. I didn’t want to pay the fee for signing up for Equibase (if I remember correctly it was $50.00 which was to activate your betting account using my credit card and the $50 went into that). Some racetracks live stream, others do not or don’t all the time.

Don’t get me started on TVG! I traveled 130 miles to watch a big race with my TB mentor, my 88 yr. old uncle. TVG talked up the race and then did the big switcheroo to a race at Aqueduct. We were too late to see it on the other channel. We missed the whole damned race. Heaven forbid a re-run of the race and an analysis on the other channel. Even the big races (on regular NBC and NBC Sports channel) spend far more time with the hype before the race than what happened during the race. So since I refuse to pay the extra cost to my cable company, I have no horse channels. The best I can do is wait for the race on UTube. So after I watch the race there at least half a dozen times, I call my uncle and we do our analysis of the race. Arggggh!

BTW congrats on seeing your articles in the big horse web sites like The BloodHorse and the Paulic Report!!!! Especially that awful horse neglect case with Maria Borrell and father in KY. Surely your status in the “Horse World” has increased;-) with your writing skills honed here on your blog.

Could we be wrong in thinking people tune in to horse racing just to cheer on a horse they know or follow up on a baby they once met? Isn’t it more likely it’s all about MONEY, the betting dollar and some of the bettors wanting to see their horse win in real time, and their money go cha-ching, in real time?

That’s obviously why the big races last for minutes and the coverage lasts for hours. The advertising dollar is made and banked before anyone is ever able to sit in front of their TV and watch a race on the common networks. That’s where the industry grabs the unknowing public tuning in on the first Saturday in May, watching something they have heard about for years…and taking an interest when a horse with a “misspelled name” kicks some butt. Those viewers may come back, may.

I “hear ya” on this quandary and at times want to grab the industry by it’s shoulders and shake some sense into it. Hmmm, maybe an uppercut to the jaw would work better?

Sandy, I see your point. Money is involved in everything in life. The Love of money is the root of all evil. There is big money in racing. All the hundreds, ?thousands of backside workers, track workers, jockeys, breeders, trainers, farm employees, etc are Not getting rich, especially on the first Saturday in May through advertizing or anything else. The Networks and their advertisers are getting the cash. Only the top trainers, owners, and jockeys are rich. It is my understanding that it costs about $25,000 a year to keep a horse in training and that is only part of the cost of owning a racehorse. Races needs to happen (they decrease in # all the time) and the bedrock it stands on is betting. That is how everyone gets paid.

Tracks are closing and turning into casinos. Two years ago I attended the last day of the racetrack that my Dad took me to and my cousins ran their horses there. I truly believe most people are involved because they love working with horses, otherwise why would they do such hard, demanding work? There are some really bad people in racing. But aren’t there in other sports? I just think they cheat the fans by not focusing on the analysis of the race like the Old Days with Jim McCay.:) I believe there should be a governing body for the sport like the NFL; some organization to coordinate the tracks and see that universal rules are followed (medication, safety of animals, aftercare). Come to think of it I don’t think anyone who owns horses is making money at it, at least none that I know.. LOL

Oh Lois…I hear you. I come from a horse background too, raced for years in the Pacific Northwest. Yes, people ARE making money from racing horses. They do NOT just do it because of the love of horses, they have to make a profit to continue. I am just saying, the betting networks are trying to get the most people to watch the most races and bet the most money…so THEY can turn a profit. Nothing wrong with that…it’s just, I’m afraid, a priority for them to get bettors to watch more than for us who want to watch to follow a favorite, etc.